WATCH: MSNBC Anchor Asks 'Has Ken Cuccinelli Ever Had Oral Sex?'

Lawrence O'Donnell has a surprisingly legitimate interest in the answer.

BY Sunnivie Brydum

July 18 2013 2:06 PM ET

On his show Wednesday, MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell issued a scathing takedown of Virginia gubernatorial hopeful and current attorney general Ken Cuccinelli's ongoing efforts to keep Virginia's anti-sodomy laws on the books.

Despite the fact that such laws were universally struck down by the Supreme Court's 2003 decision in Lawrence v. Texas, and that a federal appellate court recently rejected the state's appeal to keep the laws on the books, Cuccinelli has dug in his heels on the issue. The Republican's campaign recently launched a new website elaborating on the attorney general's unyielding support for the law.

O'Donnell took the time to actually look at the language of Cuccinelli's favorite law, and discovered that the far-reaching policy would make a felony any kind of sex involving the anus or the mouth of any citizen — male or female, straight, gay, or otherwise, married or single — and the "carnal parts" of another citizen.

"In other words, it prohibits most gay and straight sex," explains O'Donnell. "And while it's at it, it prohibits sex with ‘any brute animal.’ In fact, the only sex act that remains legal is heterosexual vaginal intercourse. And don’t think you can enter marriage — it does not include an exception for married couples. So the republican candidate for governor in Virginia is running on a platform that wants to continue to make it illegal in Virginia for married couples to have oral sex. Or for any couples of any gender to have any form of oral sex."

Then O'Donnell brings his argument to its logical conclusion: "When the republican candidate for governor finds himself in a campaign debate, is it not reasonable to ask him if he has violated the law that he supports?"

There is evidence that Cuccinelli's arcane policies on sex policing are out-of-touch with the average Virginian's perspective. A new poll from Quinnipac confirmed the recent trend that a solid majority of Virginia voters support marriage equality — and while that might not directly translate to an outspoken support for "sodomy," we'd bet it safely extends to an individual citizen's freedom to engage in various sex acts with another consenting adult behind closed doors.